Jennie Tebler's Out Of Oblivion
Till Death Tear Us Part
6.2
I have a soft spot for Black Mark Productions; they are, after all, the label that brought us the mighty Bathory, as well as great bands like Edge of Sanity and Séance. With Till Death Tear Us Apart, the debut record from Jennie Tebler’s Out of Oblivion, Black Mark brings us much lighter fare than the label has typically been known for. Out of Oblivion play a sort of gothic rock/metal in the vein of Lacuna Coil, sans male vocals.
Till Death Tear Us Apart is a somber and laid back affair, with an almost doom metal-like atmosphere, but never quite so oppressively heavy. The band seems to follow a formula for most of the songs: muted chugging in the verses, simple power-chord progressions for the choruses, melodic solos and occasional clean guitar. The band is tight and competent, but musically the compositions are just not very compelling. At times it seems like the band is on the verge of whipping up some real metallic furry, but vocalist Jennie Tebler always seems to swoop in and take the music in a more melodic direction before things really get cooking.
With the band on such a tight leash, it falls on Tebler to provide the excitement. While I cannot say that Jennie fully succeeds, it is not for lack of trying as her vocals dominate the tracks. Tebler’s songs are very lyric heavy and her often layered vocals take up a lot of the sonic landscape, leaving no doubt that this is truly Jennie Tebler’s Out of Oblivion. Tebler does have a beautiful voice: high, sweet and haunting. As beautiful as her voice is though, it is perhaps too delicate for metal, lacking the power to deliver a truly anthemic chorus.
Till Death Tear Us Apart is by no means an unpleasant listen, but it seems to float by a little too unobtrusively. The album makes for nice background music but otherwise fails to really hold my attention. I realize that Out of Oblivion are not trying to be Suffocation, but I think the band could add more adventurous instrumental passages and some legitimate aggression to their sound without straying too far from their current style. As it stands, I think they will have a tough time drawing in listeners.
Admittedly, this type of metal is not something I normally listen to and consequently, I may be looking for something from Out of Oblivion that they have no intention of giving. That said, I know there are bands such as Leaves Eyes that perform this style of metal with more variety and vigor. If you are looking for some mildly heavy music to relax to, Till Death Tear Us Apart will do quite nicely, but if you would prefer something stronger, you will have to look elsewhere.
